Xanadu developers to consider minor league stadium

The developers of the Meadowlands Xanadu shopping and entertainment center have agreed to consider building a minor-league baseball stadium on the site, according to the man who hopes to create the team that would play there.

Steve Kalafer, who aims to establish the Bergen Cliff Hawks team, said he and the developers of the $2 billion Xanadu complex signed an agreement Monday to study the feasibility of building a stadium.

The study will determine how much the 6,000-seat stadium would cost and how much income it would likely earn from naming rights, sponsorships and other sources, said Kalafer, who already owns the Somerset Patriots minor-league team. Earlier estimates pegged the cost at $20 million, but Kalafer said rising steel and concrete prices might push the cost higher.

In exchange for the study, Kalafer said he has promised to drop his lawsuit against Xanadu's former developers, the Mills Corp. and Mack-Cali Realty Corp. Kalafer accused Mills and Mack-Cali of backing out of a handshake deal to build the stadium. In March, Kalafer appealed a Superior Court judge's ruling against him.

The current developers -- Colony Capital, Dune Capital Management and KanAm -- took over in 2006, after Mills came close to declaring bankruptcy.

Xanadu is expected to open next summer at the Meadowlands Sports Complex with hundreds of stores and restaurants, an 800-foot ski slope and skydiving wind tunnels, as well as a 300-foot Ferris wheel.